Epiphanies
Epiphany is both a day and a season—January 6, the day we celebrate the star-guided magi arriving with gifts for the newborn Messiah, and the season that spans from that date until Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The word epiphany itself means manifestation or revelation, indicating the first time the Christ is revealed to gentiles (the magi) as well as the manifestations of Jesus’ Divine ministry as shown in his baptism, healings, and other miracles.
For us, Epiphany Sunday is our final part of telling the Christmas story. Children are invited to dress up as shepherds and animals and magi and the star once again before we tuck costumes away until next Advent. We bring symbolic gifts to the Holy Family in the very tangible form of food bank offerings, both foodstuffs and checks. It’s the final part of our Christmas stories as we find them in the various Gospels.
But it’s not nearly the end of the story. Because each revelation leads to another, and another. A few years ago we began sharing Star Words on Epiphany Sunday. Just as the magi followed a star to deepen their faith and discover something new, we each receive a star on which a word is printed, inviting us to follow it through the year and see where it leads, or what manifestations of the Divine we might discover in paying attention to it.
We hope you will join us on Sunday to share the gift of food with holy families and to receive the gift of a star word. And may you find Christ revealed to you in new ways this Epiphany season.
In faith,
Sharon
P.S. If you have young ones who’d like to dress up, please arrive by 9:45 am to get a costume. Church School will follow the Time with Children as typical. If you’d like to make a gift to “Holy Families,” please bring non-perishable food items for the Bellingham Food Bank or a check written to First Congregational Church with “Food Bank” in the memo line.
